Ch: 85: A Snake, a Panther and a Bat meet in a bar…

Shikoku was quietly grinding her teeth as she stalked her prey, using the sparse rock formations or desiccated trees to hide rather than wasting her internal energy to submerge her body in shadows. She had been patrolling around the periphery of the territory claimed by the Eight Thunder Gods when she had seen an intruder and knew about which faction he belonged to.

A man with spiky blue hairs and ice blue eyes was dressed in a black and white outfit, with a sword hanging from his waist. He might have passed for a human, if not for the lower right side of his face, from the ear to the nose and chin, being covered by a partial hollow mask. A mask displaying exposed teeth and giving him a sinister look.

One of that detestable Aizen's later creations. Originally an Adjuchas ranked Hollow, if her senses didn't betray her, who had accepted being turned half Shinigami by Aizen. They called themselves the Arrancars.

No matter how much she hated Aizen, she felt fear each time she remembered his cold, dispassionate eyes. He always looked at her like she didn't matter at all. Like he would kill her instantly if it was profitable to him in the slightest, simply order her corpse to be cleaned up, and never again remember her.

It was bitter knowledge to Shikoku that she herself was part of the first round of experiments done by this Shinigami. Born as a human, she had been kidnapped, then used as a guinea pig in an attempt to create a being that would be Human, Hollow and Shinigami, all at the same time. She hadn't even known Shinigamis existed before, but one of her fellow captives was one, and had told her and the others a few things.

The very idea of fusing different kinds of beings together defied common sense, and yet, Aizen had at least met partial success. Shikoku herself was proof of it. And so was the being currently intruding on the Eight Thunder Gods' territory.

Shikoku didn't remember much of what Aizen had done to her and to the other captives who had survived. Her subconscious had decided it was too much, and suppressed what it could to protect her mind. But she remembered the strange devices that pierced her flesh, injecting various fluids, and she remembered the pain. Some of it, anyway.

But as the experiments progressed, and the captives who didn't show increased strength or special abilities were disposed of, Shikoku found an opportunity. She had to demonstrate to Aizen something to avoid being butchered, so she showed him her ability to turn her hairs into snakes and inject a paralytic or sleeping agent, as well as her enhanced strength and reflexes. It had been just barely enough to satisfy him. But she managed to hide her ability to dive into shadows.

After learning the routine of the hollows who had sworn fealty to Aizen and worked as his guards, Shikoku had, very quietly, experimented with her ability. She made contact with some of the other captives, and after a few days, started to plan their escape.

When she was certain that Aizen was away, she started the prison break.

She got out of her cell, ambushed and paralyzed a few of the hollows patrolling the fortress, and used her shadow diving to enter the cells of the other six captives, carrying them away. She also took with her one of Aizen's creations, Kuusetsu, a kind of living egg with two human-like legs. Not that Kuusetsu did a lot of walking, as it seemed content to just stand and didn't seem aware of its surroundings.

Aizen, for all his undeniable genius, tended to brag about his plans and his intellect like a comic book villain. He had told some of the captives, Shikoku included, about that particular experiment. Kuusetsu would need to be fed people with a strong life force to evolve, but potentially was, according to him, his experiment with the most potential, at least for this generation. Aizen mentioned to them the name of the Arrancars, Hollows given Shinigami powers, as his other major project. He wanted them to compete against each other one day, to determine which series of experiments would be the most valuable.

Shikoku had no illusion that just escaping from this hellish place would be enough to get away from Aizen. She would need to fight him and his minions, one day. In order to deprive Aizen from Kuusetsu, and to gain a potentially strong ally, Shikoku took it with her.

When all the escapees gathered outside, they started running away, as fast and as far as they could. Rairen carried Kuusetsu on his back, Jouryuu did the same with Shikoku so she could rest, and Fukuma, Jaku'un, Naruhime and Taikyoku ran with them. Whenever Shikoku recovered enough, she transported everyone through her shadows a few tenths of kilometers away to break the trail, and they started running again, in a randomly chosen direction, but always away from that place.

They ran like this for almost a month straight, seeing no sign of pursuit, when they finally felt safe enough to stop running and start establishing their own temporary home.

And they started making plans for their future. They wanted to leave the desolate Hueco Mundo, and they had the means to. They wanted to return to the human world. But Aizen's experiments had, all too often, come with changes to their bodies. Rairen had a hollow mask he couldn't take off, Naruhime's hair color changed to white and black, her own eyes became like those of a snake, and Jouryuu's head now sported antlers, to name a few.

They knew that they couldn't just return to the human world, where every supernatural organization would hunt for them, and the reactions of normal humans to their appearance would deny them any chance of a normal life. After a lot of debates, they decided they would first do a show of force, to convince the human organizations they were better left alone.

And now, thousands of kilometers away from Aizen's fortress, an Arrancar was sniffing around.

Shikoku, due to her abilities, was more specialized in ambushes tactics than pitched battles, and it made her hesitate. Even assuming she could take him by surprise, if that blue haired Arrancar of unknown strength survived her first attack… If she needed to run, it would take her at least a second to dive into her shadow, and a lot of things could happen in a second.

She was wondering if she should try to kill that Arrancar, or retreat to warn the others, when the decision was robbed from her. Feeling a sudden spike of energy far above her, she lifted her head, and saw a second Arrancar with large bat wings, with some sort of javelin made of green energy forming in his hands. The Arrancar launched the javelin right at her, and she jumped away as far as she could. The energy she felt radiating from it told her that just evading that thing wouldn't be enough.

The massive explosion that impacted her back confirmed her fears, and the shockwave propelled her dozens of meters away. She rolled over a few times before she quickly got back on her feet, expecting another attack.

And she jumped to the side to avoid the attack of the Blue-haired Arrancar. Shikoku was shocked, as the Arrancar seemed to have crossed over 150 meters in an instant. If he could move that fast, her chances of escaping were slim.

"Do not kill her yet, Grimmjow." Called out the flying Arrancar, slowly getting closer. "Aizen-sama will want to know where Kuusetsu is."

"Tch!" grumbled the blue-haired hollow, sword in hand.

"Trying to take me alive, after throwing that spear at me?" bitterly retorted Shikoku, trying to gain some time.

"From up high, I had mistaken you for a Shinigami. But now that I have seen your face, I recognize you. You are one of the obsoletes who escaped."

"Is that how you are calling us? If so, you shouldn't have any interest in us. What are you doing here?"

"…I am not interested in discussing Aizen-sama's decision with you. Tell us quickly where Kuusetsu is, and after we recover it, we will give you and the other obsoletes a clean death. It will be quick, and relatively painless."

"If you refuse, we will bring you back to Las Noches."

"…W-What is your name?" asked a trembling Shikoku, trying to gain time as she desperately tried to find of a way out.

"I am Ulquiorra Cifer, the Cuatro Espada." said the Arrancar with bat wings, landing five meters from her. His green eyes stared at Shikoku with an absence of emotion that reminded her of Aizen.

"…Cuatro Espada?"

"The ten strongest Arrancars are named the Espada and given a number. Ulquiorra is the fourth strongest, and I, Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez, am the Sexta, the sixth's strongest. Enough with your delaying, just tell us where Kuusetsu is."

"…I-I do not know." replied Shikoku, steeling herself. No matter what kind of torture they were going to do to her, she only had to resist. Resist long enough for her friends to notice her disappearance, assume they home wasn't safe anymore, and relocate elsewhere.

This apparently wasn't the answer they wanted, as Grimmjow suddenly appeared right in front of her and slapped her with enough strength to launch her body in the air. She landed twenty meters away.

"The next wrong answer will cost you an arm. We do not need to bring you to Las Noches whole, as long as you can still speak." said Grimmjow.

Shikoku tried to merge into her own shadow, as fast as she could, but Ulquiorra appeared near her in an instant and kicked her, making her airborne again. She landed in a heap, and spat blood.

"I…I truly don't know!" she said, trying to stand and ignore the pain.

"Stubborn bitch." spat Grimmjow, eyeing Shikoku's right arm as he walked to her. His intentions were clear, and Shikoku gritted her teeth in preparation. She lashed out with her snakes but wasn't surprised at all when Grimmjow simply cut them as soon as they entered his range.

"Please, you don't have to do this!" Pleaded Shikoku. "Aizen is a monster! Why are you serving him such a man?"

The two Arrancars didn't even bother answering, and Grimmjow seized Shikoku's right wrist, forcibly extending her arm, before he severed it with his sword just under the elbow.

"AAIHHIH!" screamed Shikoku, tears gathering in her eyes as she fell backward, staring at her severed forearm still held by Grimmjow.

"Feel like talking now?" taunted "Next is the same arm, but I'll cut near the shoul…" Grimmjow was abruptly interrupted by a leather boot impacting his face, making him airborne.

As Grimmjow landed near Ulquiorra, Shikoku lifted her face to stare at the person who had just appeared near her. He was dressed like the Shinigami captive Shikoku had talked to years ago, with a black kimono and a white sash.  Although Shinigamis typically wore white socks and getas on their feet, not leather military boots. He was fairly tall, had short black hairs, and Shikoku could see the straps of a mask surrounding the back of his head. The man held a sword in his left hand.

"Who the hell are you?" furiously asked Grimmjow, getting back on his feet.

"What would be the point of hiding my face with a mask if I were going to just give you my name? Don't you feel a bit stupid for asking that question?" lightly said the masked man.

"You!" Grimmjow was about to charge when Ulquiorra stopped him with a hand.

"Whoever you are, you are sticking your nose in our business. Are you ready for the consequences?" asked Ulquiorra.

"Yeah, sorry about that. But hitting a woman is a big no. Have you never learned basic manners?"

The masked man turned his head toward the dumbfounded Shikoku, holding her bleeding stump. and she saw his mask. A black kitsune mask, with the white symbol of a quarter moon on the forehead, and red accents around the eyes and drawn whiskers. Gray eyes peeked at her from the eye openings.

"What are you waiting for? This is the part where you run. Do your thing with the shadows, now. I'll keep them busy."

Shikoku didn't need to be told twice and started sinking in her shadow.

As she did, she saw that mysterious man and the two Arrancars starting to fight. All three of them were moving at a speed she could just barely follow with her eyes but could not hope to equal, and their movements were blurry.

Her head was the last thing to submerge, and she engraved in her memories the image of the person who saved her.